An educator named Austin LeMay, who believes in connecting with his students through dance, has gone viral on TikTok for his good ol’ throwback moves.
If you haven’t met the California teacher yet, here’s everything you need to know about him and the story behind the viral video which has been viewed more than 32 million times!
Who is Austin LeMay and why has he gone viral?
Autin is a teacher at Tenaya Middle School in California. He is also the Campus Culture Director, according to ABC.
He describes himself as “Teacher. Coach. Golf & humor enthusiast. Aspiring griddle chef.” on Instagram. He recently welcomed a baby.
Going by his posts, it appears like Autin is a sports enthusiast, especially football.
He has become a sensation in the last week after a TikTok of him dancing to the 2009 song ‘You’re a Jerk’ by New Boyz accumulated more than 32.8 million views!
In an interview with the network, Austin says he has been waiting “30 years” to do this.
The students and the teacher regularly gather after classes every Friday to show off their moves and bond with one another with their love and passion for dancing.
Austin says teaching his “job and career”, but dancing is his “passion”.
The story behind the viral TikTok is interesting
It was Tenaya Middle School’s Resource Counselor Jenny McCauley’s idea to post the video of Austin’s dance to bring “attention to the good things happening at the school.”
The student-staff connection is of “high priority” for the school. Principal Armen Torigian seconds Ms. McCauley.
And, one of Autin’s students, Dereona Thepphakaysone, is the mastermind behind the original video.
She wanted to make things fun at school after the pandemic as things had slowed down. And, what better than dancing with your favorite teacher?
California teacher’s TikTok explored
Austin has more than 93,000 followers on TikTok. It consists of four posts, of which, two are of him dancing.
Most recently, he shared one with his baby daughter, where he’s seen making her dance to the song in his viral video.
The overlay text says, “teaching her young.”
You can explore Autin’s TikTok here.
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